Inspiration: The 6th Gun

I follow a variety of comic book series, but not all of them are in the superhero genre. One of them is a weird western series by Oni Press called The 6th Gun.

What's the series about? Well, here's the series premise from the site:

During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time, the Sixth Gun, the most dangerous of the weapons, vanished. When the gun surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way.

So, why exactly do I bring this up? I do have a fascination with westerns, primarily due to their influence on my during my childhood here in the Philippines (another topic for another day) -- but that's not why I bring it up. I bring it up because weird westerns are a fantastic inspiration source for fantasy campaigns. Look at the series premise again, with certain words changed:

During the darkest days of the Spellsword War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six blades of otherworldly power. In time, the Sixth Blade, the most dangerous of the weapons, vanished. When the blade surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the blade and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a swordfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way.

As you can see, it's a premise and setting that can be mined for many things useful in your fantasy campaigns -- lawless areas, many skilled fighters and mages looking for work after a war, and new frontiers. I'll be mining the series and the genre further in a blog post series I'll title Mining The 6th Gun.

Still unconvinced? Let me leave you with a panel from issue #5: